Defendant Breaks Down In Loud Music Trial

10:55 AM EST, February 11, 2014

The shooter in the loud music trial took the stand Tuesday, and it wasn't long before he was in tears.

Forty-seven-year-old software developer, Michael Dunn, needed a tissue as he recalled how he shot 17-year-old Jordan Davis at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. The dispute started over loud music coming from a red SUV that Davis and his three teenage friends were sitting in.

The shots Dunn fired could be heard in a surveillance video from inside the gas station convenience store. Dunn's girlfriend was inside the store. She also broke down in tears on the stand when she testified on Saturday.

Dunn said he fired in self-defense after he asked the teens to turn the music down. He said it started with an angry exchange of words.

Dunn explained, "After hearing, 'The something, something cracker. I should kill that [expletive].’ He said ‘This [expletive] is going down now’ and got out of the car. I said, ‘You're not going to kill me you son of a [expletive].’"

HLN’s Nancy Grace told INSIDE EDITION, "The only way he is only going to get the jury is if he took the stand himself."

The racial aspect of this case reminds many of Trayvon Martin. Prosecutor John Guy tried to poke holes in Dunn's story.

Guy asked, "The truth is, when you rolled down that window and said, 'Are you talkin' about me?' You were challenging this 17-year-old boy."

Dunn replied, "I don't believe so."

Grace said, "How do I rate Michael Dunn on the stand? He has managed to keep his composure on direct. Cross, not so much."